Former Australia opener Aaron Finch was not impressed with the way Australia batted in their 2023 World Cup opener against India on Sunday, October 8, in Chennai. He also questioned Australian batters for allowing Indian spinners to have the upperhand on them as well. However, Australia struggled against spin as Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin combined to pick up six wickets as Australia eventually folded for 199.
In his column for the ICC, Finch added: “You can’t allow Jadeja, Kuldeep, and Ashwin to bowl how they want to bowl on a surface like that. They’re so accurate and so highly skilled – Jadeja has done it to Australia so many times now. Part of it comes down to how India bowled spin, but we also need to look at the way that Australia batted. There was a clear plan among the group to be proactive, to try to limit dot balls and rotate strike against what they knew would be a world-class group of spinners.”
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However, the turning point of the innings arguably was Steve Smith’s dismissal in the 28th over and Jadeja also managed to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey soon after that dismantled Australia’s batting order. Meanwhile, Finch also underlined that the Australian batters require a mindset shift to tackle spin-friendly conditions as well.
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“There was a bit of a lack of aggression from the Australian batters. I think they’ll be disappointed by the intent they showed and the fact that they weren’t able to put any pressure back on India. It needs a mindset shift, to look to be on the front foot a little more and take some calculated risks,” he concluded.
